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"What's the first thing you think of when I say 'angel'?" asked Mallory. Alice shrugged. "I don't know... guns?"

Alice isn't having the best of days. She was late for work, she missed her bus, and now she's getting rained on. What she doesn't know is that her day's about to get worse: the epic, grand-scale kind of worse that comes from the arrival of two angels who claim everything about her life is a lie.

"What's the first thing you think of when I say 'angel'?" asked Mallory. Alice shrugged. "I don't know... guns?"

Alice isn't having the best of days. She was late for work, she missed her bus, and now she's getting rained on. What she doesn't know is that her day's about to get worse: the epic, grand-scale kind of worse that comes from the arrival of two angels who claim everything about her life is a lie.

The war between the angels and the Fallen is escalating; the age-old balance is tipping, and innocent civilians are getting caught in the cross-fire. If the balance is to be restored, the angels must act - or risk the Fallen taking control. Forever.

That’s where Alice comes in. Hunted by the Fallen and guided by Mallory - a disgraced angel with a drinking problem and a whole load of secrets - Alice will learn the truth about her own history… and why the angels want to send her to hell.

What do the Fallen want from her? How does Mallory know so much about her past? What is it the angels are hiding - and can she trust either side?

Caught between the power plays of the angels and Lucifer himself, it isn't just hell's demons that Alice will have to defeat...

"An Unwelcome Quest"
Ever since Martin Banks and his fellow computer geeks discovered reality is just software, they've been happily jaunting back and forth through time. Who knew that rotten Todd would escape, then conjure a game packed with wolves, wastelands and other harrowing hazards--and trap his hapless former hack-mates inside it?
Find out more author Scott Meyer

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A hell of a ride, but heaven to read: eerie, compelling and very funny. Michael Marshall Smith Dark, surreal and wickedly funny, Lou Morgan's reimagining of the war between Heaven and Hell mixes angels, alcohol and ammunition to serve up a joy of a read. Tom Pollock It's a challenge to take concepts older than the calendar and make them seem new. Louise Morgan has done just that. How to describe this, her debut novel? Bloody Heavenly!" Guy Adams Dark, enticing and so sharp the pages could cut you, Blood and Feathers is a must-read for any fan of the genre. Sarah Pinborough A storming debut! Lou Morgan writes with confidence, style and verve. Who would have thought that going to Hell could be so much fun? A must-read. Mike Shevdon
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Louise Morgan’s first short story was published by the British Fantasy Society in 2008, and her work has since appeared in venues including Hub Magazine and Morpheus Tales. Born in Wales, she now lives with her husband and son in Brighton, England, placing her firmly on the front line in the event of a mutant-squid attack. This is not something she likes to think about. “Blood and Feathers” is her first novel.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Thank you, oh thank you Literary Gods! I was terrified that BLOOD AND FEATHERS by Lou Morgan would turn out to Twilight with angels standing in for vampires. Why read on with the threat of a sparkly-vampire guillotine hanging over my head? Well in case you hadn't noticed I have become a big fan of Solaris Books. So far this is a publisher that has done little to steer me wrong. Oh and there is a quote by EBR favorite, Sarah Pinborough that goes a little like this...

"Dark, enticing and so sharp the pages could cut you, Blood and Feathers is a must-read for any fan of the genre."

High praise indeed, and the more cynical I become with my reading, the more I have come to rely on author blurbs. So what is BLOOD AND FEATHERS about?

Alice is a pawn in a conflict that has been waging since the Lucifer broke faith with the heavenly host. Under the tutelage of a hard drinking, hard fighting Earthbound angel by the name of Mallory, Alice must gain control over her blossoming powers and choose a side before the balance is forever tipped in the wrong direction.

So Lou Morgan actually manages to pull a sort of Anti-Twilight. Instead of making vampires seem really lame, Morgan takes angels and makes them dangerous and more than a little frightening. I'll stop with the Twilight comparisons there though, the two books have nothing important in common. What you need to know is that BLOOD AND FEATHERS is not paranormal romance. This is urban fantasy, colored in plenty of shades of blood-spattered moral gray. Morgan's angels are vengeful, ferocious, and downright psychotic. It's not their job to save the souls of humans. They are soldiers in an unending war against the brothers who have betrayed them.

I'll say first that this was an alright read, somewhere between a 3 and 3.5 rating, and mostly because the beginning of this story was so convoluted and confusing I felt lost. I have a few issues with this book, mostly they are all in the first 1/3 of the book so I guess I'll just go down the line..

First, Alice was not a very strong lead character and seemed very wishy washy. Alice never questioned or reacted to any of the events that were u folding all around her. She never questioned, never had any intense reaction. Most normal people who are faced with angels, devils and death would either freak out in some way. She never seemed like a believable character to me which made things difficult from the start. Even towards the end where she's supposed to be some super weapon, she seemed more like a whiny little girl, lost and confused. You can't force your characters to accept things just to move on with the story..

The beginning was very vague for me. Where is this taking place? When is this taking place? I didn't understand what had happened to Alice's Mom/Family (yes you find out in the end, but it's like stumbling in the dark). I didn't, still kinda don't understand, where the mother and children fit into anything in the first chapter. I honestly thought that that was Alice's family because there is no transition or explanation between the first chapter and the next when we meet Alice. Is this the future? Same time? What the hell is going on?

This might be a small gripe but I found that most of the characters had little to no description. The author did very little to tell you what this characters looked like, so I mostly made it up myself, which is find, I have a healthy imagination, I just found it strange.Read more ›

Blood and Feathers has an interesting version of the whole angels and demons shtick. Normally I stay away from fiction that contains any biblical themes because I usually find them preachy. But Blood and Feathers appealed to me what with it’s description containing an angel with a drinking problem. So I thought, *shrug* it might not thump at me too much.

I was thankfully correct, even though it was about angels and demons and their eternal war, I didn’t feel like it was about religion at all. So kudos and score one for Lou. Mallory was the saving grace of Blood and Feathers for me. He and another angel Vin gave me enough chuckles.

“He doesn’t mean to be such a wanker – he just doesn’t understand.” – pg 23

The heroine, Alice is a woman in her twenties who has just recently found out she is half angel. I have to say, based on her behavior and attitude though that she read more like a prepubescent teen. I had heard from others who had read this that this read a lot like young adult because of her behavior. Note, I consider this an an adult, YA crossover book as there are no sexy times or any romantic elements.

Alice, lets just say I had issue with her. She was so blasted whiny. These were Mallory’s words not mine – directed right at Alice!“Stop whining.” – pg 69

Thankfully as in most books when the character is whiny they tend to improve upon that as their character grows. With Alice that just took quite a long while for me. It was extremely difficult to like her, and when I’m not fond of a character, I find it hard for me to care what happens to them. My feeling regarding Alice can be summed up thus: So yeah, Go to Hell, what the flip do I care?Read more ›

More About the Author

Lou Morgan grew up in Wales, became a Londoner and now lives in the historic city of Bath - where she spends her days herding cats, writing and drinking tea. Not necessarily in that order of importance.

Her first short story was published by the British Fantasy Society in 2008, and since then her work has appeared in anthologies from Jurassic Press, Solaris Books and PS Publishing.

Her first novel, "Blood and Feathers" - an urban fantasy described as 'Alice in Wonderland goes to Hell' - was published in the UK & the US by Solaris Books in August 2012, with a sequel, "Blood and Feathers: Rebellion" released in the summer of 2013.

She has a weakness for pizza, cathedrals and Christopher Nolan films (although possibly not all at the same time), and gets very excited about medieval history and literature. She can mostly be found on Twitter or at her blog: http://loummorgan.wordpress.com.